


Stay the Night

by lesbiankavinsky



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, slumber parties and kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 06:36:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5995171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbiankavinsky/pseuds/lesbiankavinsky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ginny holds her close and pets her hair and thinks that war is an awfully inconvenient time to fall in love. Because she is in love with Luna, undeniably, and she has this overwhelming fear that if she does anything about it, if she tells Luna or kisses her or even just thinks about it too much, something terrible will happen and she’ll lose her. The truth is that nothing is safe right now, which means getting attached to anyone or anything is about ten times scarier than usual. As if dating in high school weren’t hard enough already.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay the Night

During their sixth year at Hogwarts, even before they moved into the Room of Requirement, Ginny and Luna spend most of their nights together. It isn’t completely new -- Luna has always been fond of sleepovers and Ginny only says no to them if she has a particularly huge amount of homework to do or is feeling otherwise overwhelmed. But sixth year is different. Because this year it isn’t just late nights spent whispering in bed about their favorite classes and Luna telling Ginny about bullies while Ginny makes mental lists of people to hex -- it’s not wanting to sleep alone because it simply isn’t safe. Still, every time Luna shows up at Gryffindor Tower with a story about what she’s done to piss the Carrows off this time, Ginny tries to treat it like a regular slumber party and they sit by the fire braiding each other’s hair and making shadow animals on the walls. 

Halloween is one of those nights. Ginny keeps Luna updated on the password to get by the Fat Lady (who knows her well enough by now not to ask any questions), so she isn’t too surprised to see Luna standing at the entrance to her room at around midnight. She can’t sleep anyway, so she’s grateful for the company. Luna slips her shoes off by Ginny’s bed and climbs into the space next to her. 

“Warm,” she comments, slipping her cold toes between Ginny’s calves.

“Heated it up just for you.”

“How thoughtful.” 

“In trouble again?” Ginny asks. It’s dark, but she thinks Luna might have a black eye. 

“Well,” Luna says thoughtfully, “that phrasing would imply that I was ever out of it.”

“Fair enough,” Ginny replies. “You holding up alright?”

“Oh yes. It’s nice knowing I can always come here.”

“Of course,” Ginny says, and she slips her hand into Luna’s under the sheets. “We’ve got to stick together, especially now.

Luna sighs. “I just wish Harry and Ron and Hermione were still here. Harry especially. He was so good at making people work together, you know? Making everyone a team.”

“Hey,” Ginny says. “I don’t think we’re too bad at that either.”

“You think?” Luna asks, and though Ginny can’t see her, she can hear the smile in her voice. “I hope so. It can be a little scary, feeling like everyone’s counting on you.”

“Yeah.” Ginny turns onto her side so she’s facing Luna. “I think it’s important to remember that you’re sixteen, though. And if you can’t always be the perfect leader or deal with the pressure or be strong, that’s okay. You’re a kid, we’re all kids, and we’re not going to be perfect all the time, no matter how hard we try.”

“I know that. But it’s a little different from telling yourself it’s okay if you don’t do very well on a transfiguration test.”

“Oh I don’t know,” Ginny says seriously. “I think disappointing McGonagall badly enough would be life-threatening too.” 

Luna nestles her head against Ginny’s shoulder. “I’m never that scared when you’re around. That’s why I always come here when things get bad.”

“Yeah?” Ginny says, trying to ignore the little swoop in her stomach at hearing that.

“You’re my safe place.” 

Ginny holds her close and pets her hair and thinks that war is an awfully inconvenient time to fall in love. Because she is in love with Luna, undeniably, and she has this overwhelming fear that if she does anything about it, if she tells Luna or kisses her or even just thinks about it too much, something terrible will happen and she’ll lose her. The truth is that nothing is safe right now, which means getting attached to anyone or anything is about ten times scarier than usual. As if dating in high school weren’t hard enough already. Then again, there’s nothing like the constant threat of death to keep her aware of the fact that any moment could be now or never. She kisses Luna’s forehead. “I wish I could keep you safe forever and ever.” 

“No one gets to be safe for ever and ever,” Luna says, sounding as she so often does much wiser than a sixteen year old ought to be. “But I think I’m much safer with you than I would be with anyone else. You’re very good at hexes and you’re much more powerful than people expect you to be. I think it’s because you’re a little short, and a girl. And you have freckles, which people do not generally associate with great power. You get the element of surprise. Besides, even if you weren’t strong and powerful and all that, I would still want to be with you. Even if you were a really terrible witch.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

“Well, because I love you so I would want to be with you if I was going to die, and I know that you love me so you’d try to protect me even if you weren’t very good at it.”

Ginny considers the many implications of what Luna has just said. First of all, it’s Luna talking, and Luna talks much more freely and openly about loving her friends than most people do. Secondly, there’s the classic gay girl struggle of did my friend just tell me she loves me because she loves me or because we’re such great friends. She takes a deep breath. “Hey Luna?”

“Yeah?”

“What exactly do you mean when you say you love me?”

“I mean that you’re one of my best friends and I want to spend time with you and you make me happy.” Ginny’s heart sinks. She knows it was silly to get her hopes up over something like that. Luna goes on. “But if you’re asking whether I meant that I’m in love with you, I am.”

“Wait, really?” Ginny asks, sitting up abruptly in bed.

Luna props her head up on her hand. “Of course. I thought it was obvious, or I would have told you sooner.”

Ginny considers this for a moment, then lies back down, still facing Luna. “I love you, too,” she says and even in the dark she can see the smile spreading over Luna’s face before Ginny leans forward to kiss her. She kisses her very softly, not because Luna seems to her delicate or breakable but because she seems precious and a little otherworldly and because there’s still that nagging fear in the back of her head telling her that this is somehow tempting fate, that if she gets to kiss Luna it means she’ll also have to lose her. Luna doesn’t try to rush things, just folds herself against Ginny and loops an arm around her waist and makes a very small, very contented noise against Ginny’s mouth. She stretches her legs out below the covers to move a foot against Ginny’s ankle and Ginny can’t stop thinking about how soft Luna is: her lips and her hands slipping under Ginny’s shirt and her hair sweeping across Ginny’s collarbones. It shouldn’t be surprising, because Luna has always been the softest of them. Not that she isn’t tough, but there’s a difference between toughness and hardness that Luna has always managed to preserve, even in a war. So kissing her is like stepping out of a snowstorm into a warm home, like lying down to rest after walking for miles. Right now, it’s everything she needs.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Lena and Angie for proofing!


End file.
